The great shutter curtain glue choice of 2023

Had a 1972 Nikon F2 with a sticky curtain, and the old foam was dust. My choice was between using a tiny bit of fresh rubber cement or trying to cut and fit a whole new foam strip from a donor camera. I went with the cement, thinking it was the smart, fast fix. Spent an hour with a toothpick and a magnifier, got it perfect. Two days later, the client brings it back because the curtain is now stuck open. Has anyone else had a glue fix backfire like that on an old focal plane shutter?

4 comments

4 Comments

noahpark1mo ago

That "smart, fast fix" idea gets me every time. Rubber cement can off-gas for a while and get tacky again in a sealed space. Maybe the solvents needed more than two days to fully leave that old silk.

angelapalmer1mo ago

Maybe, but it worked fine for me.

rivera.jake19d ago

Yeah totally, that's exactly what I've been wondering too. I mean, it makes sense that the solvents would need way more time to fully dry out on something that old and delicate. Two days always felt kind of short to me for a fix like that, especially if the bag is going to be stored away after. I've had stuff get tacky again in storage before and it's such a pain to deal with later.

derek7819d ago

... honestly I feel like people overthink this stuff sometimes. I mean yeah rubber cement has solvents but we're talking about a tiny dab on an old silk curtain not a whole bottle. Two days of dry time in a ventilated room should be plenty for that amount. I've used rubber cement on fabric camera parts before and never had issues unless I got sloppy with how much I applied. Plus the original factory glue was probably something similar anyway just older and more brittle. I think the real problem might have been the curtain alignment or a spring tension issue that was already there before the repair. But hey maybe I'm wrong and it really is some chemical mystery.